Genealogy Chat

Hi I hope someone out there can help me with this! I have a james Bale in my tree; born 1855 in Instow, Devon, in the 1861 census he appears with his parents, and in the 1871 census working as a groom in Instow. In 1881, however, he is married to Mary (1857, Lewisham) and has 6 sons. The first five - Edward, Frank, Basil, Austin and Willie - were born between 1867 and 1874, and all have the surname Tanser; they were born in Forest Hill, Kent, and the census enumerator has drawn a bracket besides the five sons' place of birth, and written the word 'in' next to it. The sixth son is Brian Bale, born 1880 in Fremington, Devon. Also on the census is Martha Miller, 1849, Lewisham, listed as sister. Now, I am assuming that this was Mary's second marriage, and the five sons were step-sons, and that Martha was Mary's sister (james did not have a sister Martha), with Brian being the first child of the marriage between James and Mary. The problem is I can only find the Tansers, Mary and Martha on the 1881 census - no trace of them before or after, and I cannot find any birth, marriage or death records. Also - what does the 'in' next to the five Tanser boys mean? Any ideas, please

I bet this is the marriage: Marriages Dec 1879 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bale James Barnstaple 5b 800 Lanser Mary Ann Barnstaple 5b 800 Lauser Mary Ann Barnstaple 5b 800 Seldon Catherine Jane Barnstaple 5b 800 THORNE Nathaniel Barnstaple 5b 800 and her name is Lanser, not Tanser! Merry

1871: Mary A Caniless abt 1850 Woolwich, Kent, England Servant Lewisham Kent Donnie Hymes abt 1861 Horsham, Sussex, England Servant Lewisham Kent Adolphus H Lanser abt 1835 Preußen, Waterbeach Head Lewisham Kent Bacil Lanser abt 1869 Croydon, Surrey, England Son Lewisham Kent Edward Lanser abt 1867 Lewisham, Kent, England Son Lewisham Kent Frank Lanser abt 1866 Lewisham, Kent, England Son Lewisham Kent Mary Lanser abt 1847 Peckham, Surrey, England Wife Lewisham Kent William Lanser abt 1870 Barnstaple, Devon, England Son Lewisham Kent Martha Miller abt 1845 Cumberworth Sister Lewisham Kent Merry

Doh! Thanks for that - I'll start having a look for the Lanser line! Any idea what the 'in' means next to the boys name?

Deaths Sep 1874 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LANSER Adolph Henry 42 Lewisham 1d 511 I'm guessing you have access to Ancestry, so you can look at the bodges on the 1871 transcript I posted earlier??!!!....just saves me running through them! Merry

You're a star!

I've just had a look at the image. The 'IN' is written in the deaf/blind/lunatic column. Not sure what that's about, unless its an abbreviation for 'infirm'. Regarding Tanser, it could easily say Lanser. I'm wondering if the dittos for the other boys refers to Tanser, or to Bale. Perhaps the eldest boy had his mother's maiden name as his middle name? nell

I wasn't sure if it was ''in''???? Might be an M for Middlesex?, though the enumerator was correct in saying Kent.......Wouldn't mean to say someone else didn't think Forest Hill was in Middlesex. Only a guess though......... Merry

Might it be short for 'in law', in the sense of a 'step' relationship? The boys appear to have been stepsons if I have read the thread correctly.